Matthew Vaughn directing spy thriller I Am Pilgrim

Having enjoyed box-office success with Kingsman: The Secret Service, Matthew Vaughn is set to return to the spy genre with an adaptation of bestselling novel I Am Pilgrim. According to THR, the film will be Vaughn’s next directorial project, with the filmmaker also set to act as producer.

Adapted from Terry Hayes’ 2014 book, the movie will tell the story of Pilgrim, the former head of a secret US espionage unit. Happily retired, our hero is dragged back into the game when asked to lend his expertise to an anti-terrorist investigation, and soon finds himself in a race against time to thwart a massive-scale disaster event.

Hayes is currently working on a follow-up novel starring the same protagonist, and MGM is thought to view I Am Pilgrim as the first film in a potential franchise. Given the huge commercial success of the source material, I’d imagine a similar performance at the box office is all but guaranteed.